As children, today’s father was raised on advertising showing men as aggressive, strong, messy or athletic, but feel these adjectives did not reflect their overall personality. When thinking about their own lives, over half of the men surveyed in a March 2015 SheKnows Media Male Gender Perceptions & Stereotypes Survey reported feeling conscious of stereotypical expectations in childhood, teen years, and as adults. They included an expectation to be athletic (52%), to defend themselves physically (51%) and to enjoy watching sports (50%). As adults these men are still cognizant of gender stereotypes- more of their male friends, co-workers and managers are likely to use gender stereotypes than women. And though women are presumably more compassionate and understanding, more of them admit to using phrases like 'man up,' 'you run/hit/throw/catch like a girl' and 'be a man' toward boys than men.

Not surprisingly, men today also feel in an effort to focus on empowering girls' self esteem, the needs of boys in today’s younger generations have been ignored. In the same survey, over half the men felt it was acceptable for boys to play dress-up (55%) and play with dolls (51%). A respondent from the survey stated, 'As a stay at home dad, I rapidly see negative male gender stereotypes changing. But it's leaving a vacuum in its wake that needs to be filled with better teaching for self-worth for our boys.'

In recent years toy companies have attempted to fill the vacuum. Mattel expanded its American Girl doll brand to include a boy—the first in 31 years. Boy Story, a brand which also sells male dolls, donates a portion of their proceeds to the United Nations Women's HeForShe initiative for gender equality. Hasbro, third largest toy maker in the world, now sells both boy and girl dolls in more than a half-dozen different ethnicities under their Baby Alive brand.

Source: National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse

Source: National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse

Fifty-eight percent of men see gender stereotypes perpetuated in media and advertising. Just last month (in response to the incident in which Montana U.S. Representative Greg Gianforte assaulted a male journalist) Mike Riggs, reporter at Reason.com, tweeted about society’s perception of what makes a man tough and masculine. In his thread Riggs stated, ‘The sons of ‘real men’ grow up to be emotionally stunted, confused, and poor. Real men do everything they can to avoid hurting others and themselves. Self-restraint and wisdom are not weak, they are powerful. If I am so lucky as to father boys, I will teach them this.’ His viral tweets became the subject of one of Twitter’s Moments.

There are advertising agencies aware of the gender stereotypes all around us, dissolving them- and seeing stellar results for their efforts. One in particular defying stereotypical expectations is Campbell Ewald. The #MakeAMoment TV, radio, print, and digital public service advertising (PSA) campaign they produced for The Ad Council and the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse (NRFC) went viral. With over 4.5 million views on YouTube, it features WWE Superstar Roman Reigns singing 'I'm a Little Teapot' and having a tea party with his daughter. This commercial is one in a series under a campaign encouraging dads to 'take a moment to make a moment' with their children.

Another was a campaign created for Chase Bank by Adweek's U.S. Agency of the Year, Droga5, called 'Mastery 2.0'. It captured four different stories in which people mastered their financial futures with a little help from Chase, including a spot called 'Fairy Dad'. In the commercial, a father puts on makeup and a fairy costume for his daughter's birthday.

SheKnowsMedia, a leading women's lifestyle digital media company known for its annual #BlogHer conference series (the largest for women content creators in the world), created a digital storytelling and media literacy program for kids called #HatchKids. Though initially launched in 2014 to inspire and empower young girls, #HatchKids became an outlet for boys to weigh on what it really means to be a man, and thus gave SheKnowsMedia insight into what boys think the media gets wrong about how they feel about themselves.

Samantha Skey, President and Chief Revenue Officer of SheKnowsMedia, explains:

We can see some evidence of widening consumer groups through recent Mattel and CoverGirl ads. Parents of kids under age 18, the greatest consumer base in the U.S., often reflect the feelings of their kids. The more we hear about Gen Z’s interest in redefining gender, the more confident we are that general consumers will be turned off by gender stereotypes in advertising. Millennials, who are known for their fluidity in social issues and pushed their parents to recycle in the '90s, are the fastest growing parent group in the country. Brands want as many consumers as possible and, many brands, want to show that they are connecting to the social zeitgeist.

Bottom line: When creating your Father’s Day campaign, be sensitive to the overly used stereotypical expectations related to gender. This includes stereotypes towards the father as well as their children. Don’t be discouraged to create funny, smart or artistic gender-neutral content, advertising a father playing dress-up, wearing pink, or even painting stars and rainbows with his children.

As a best-selling author, speaker and consultant Christine Michel Carter has become a voice for millennial moms and diverse professionals. Carter is the author of "Can Mommy Go To Work" and the creator of Mompreneur and Me.